#awwtokyo #cafegroupnet
Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest brokerage, is employing Imma, a computer-generated influencer, to promote tax-free investing accounts in an effort to appeal to younger retail clients. Imma, who has a large following on Instagram and TikTok, has started appearing in Nomura’s ads for tax-free accounts under the Nippon Individual Savings Accounts (NISA) system. The Japanese government has been promoting NISA, equivalent to the UK’s ISA plan, to encourage investment in riskier assets rather than savings. The brokerage is introducing new tax-exempt products in sync with the expansion of the program by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida from January 2024.
This campaign is particularly significant as Japan’s baby boomer generation, the majority of the country’s wealth holders, are passing on their assets to a younger generation. Nomura aims to ensure the funds held by its mostly over-60 retail clients are reinvested rather than converted to cash or taken by the state through inheritance tax.
Imma, developed by AI technology company **Aww Inc.**, has worked in advertising for BMW, IKEA, and various cosmetic brands, and appeared in the Tokyo Paralympics 2021 closing ceremony, but is not well-known among older generations. The ad campaign is a part of Nomura’s broader efforts to stimulate interest in investing among younger people, alongside other initiatives like economic education in high schools and a joint venture with messaging-app operator Line Corp.
It remains uncertain whether the campaign with Imma will encourage more young people, faced with minimal wage increases and uncertain economic prospects, to open NISA accounts.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-03/nomura-hires-virtual-influencer-imma-to-get-young-japanese-to-invest#xj4y7vzkg